


Communication, Effective and Otherwise

by MontanaHarper



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Communication, Grading Hell Theater, M/M, accidental date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-27
Updated: 2013-01-27
Packaged: 2017-11-27 04:41:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 494
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/658109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MontanaHarper/pseuds/MontanaHarper
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <em>Derek frowns in Stiles's general direction and then raises his eyebrows, waiting for Stiles to get it.</em>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	Communication, Effective and Otherwise

**Author's Note:**

> [**cereta**](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cereta) said: "So, do your favorite characters pass [the broccoli test](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Broccoli_Test)?"

Derek has no idea what Stiles's eyebrow waggling and flailing gestures mean. This is not surprising, because Derek frequently has no idea when it comes to Stiles. Stiles leaves him off-kilter, confused and frustrated. He frowns in Stiles's general direction and then raises his eyebrows, waiting for Stiles to get it.

Stiles does. He's always quick on the uptake, when it matters. "Sorry," he says from the other end of the produce section, not whispering but not raising his voice, either. "Sometimes I forget you can still hear me all the way over there. Get broccoli, please."

Derek nods, reaching for the roll of produce bags, and Stiles heads toward the dairy cases.

~ | ~ | ~

When Derek needs broccoli, he doesn't even bother with the half-assed charades Stiles had tried. He just pulls out his phone and sends a text:

**Broccoli. Also, tomatoes and fresh basil.**

A few seconds later, his phone buzzes:

**whats the magic word?**

He debates for a moment, then sends back:

**Dinner. I'll cook. Fettuccine Alfredo with chicken and broccoli, Insalata Caprese.**

There's no response for long enough that he's starting to second-guess himself, and then finally:

**is this you asking me on a date?**

It doesn't give anything away. This is why Derek prefers to communicate face to face; he can't get a read on someone's mood or their intentions just from reading a text.

**Yes.**

He regrets it the instant he hits "send." 

The reply, when it comes, is longer than he's expecting:

**cool. veggies, check. ill grab dessert too. choc or fruit based?**

Honestly, Derek doesn't care one way or the other. He's far more concerned with breathing through the panicky moment of _what the fuck was I thinking?_ He doesn't do this, _hasn't_ done this since he was younger than Stiles is now.

**Whatever you want.**

If he'd given it half a second's thought, he would've realized his mistake, but as it is he doesn't until Stiles sends back:

**werewolf a la mode, then**

His breath catches and he wishes he could go back and undo this whole thing, because it was obviously a monumentally bad idea. Stiles is your average ( _not average_ , some part of him argues, _he's anything_ but _average_ ) seventeen-year-old boy, who's going to want things Derek's not ready to give. Not now and maybe not ever.

He's half a second away from sending Stiles a text that says something along the lines of "never mind" when his phone buzzes again.

**ill overlook your inability to say please if youll overlook my tendency to blurt out inappropriate stuff?**

It's followed immediately by:

**angelfood cake w fresh fruit okay?**

And Derek's chest is still tight but it's not a fight-or-flight thing; there's no adrenaline thrumming through him. Yeah, Stiles makes him nervous, but maybe it's a kind of nervous he can handle. A kind of nervous he doesn't need to be afraid of.

He sends back one word in reply to both of Stiles's texts:

**Yes.**


End file.
